(Distributed Oct. 24, 2006)
SATELLITES A GOOD BARGAIN FOR TOURNAMENT PLAYERS
SHAKOPEE, MN — Poker players are like everyone else — always looking for a bargain. One way to get into a big buy-in tournament cheaply is to win all or part of your entry money in a satellite event.
Here at the Canterbury Park Fall Poker Classic, satellite tables are bustling with players hoping to turn a smallish investment into entry in a primary daily tournament, including the main event on Thursday, Oct. 26, which costs $1,000 (plus a $70 entry fee) to play.
Satellite events are one-table or multi-table mini-tournaments. Canterbury dealers have been busy with one-table no-limit hold’em satellites since the Classic started Oct. 14. The most popular has been the $65 satellite, which pits 10 players vying for a $550 payout. Each one lasts about an hour and the house takes $100 off the top.
Satellite strategy is similar to playing an online sit-and-go. For both, blinds start at about $10-$20 and increase at approximately the same frequency, usually every 12 minutes or so. But there’s one huge difference: Online one-table events typically provide $1,500 or more starting chips while a live satellite starts you with only $200 or $300 in chips.
Online that means you can play speculative hands early such as flush draws or small pairs, trying to catch a monster that could double your stack. In a live satellite, one false step early can leave you crippled or send you to the rail.
Here’s an example:
I jumped into a $65 satellite Friday night at Canterbury. From seat No. 1 left of the dealer and in the small blind ($10), I looked down at pocket jacks on the very first hand. An Asian player in seat No. 3 under the gun (first to act after the big blind) raised to $50. Everyone folded around to the button player in seat No. 10, who raised to $175.
Although I certainly would have called or raised the Asian player, now I faced a re-raise that would cost nearly two-thirds of my $300 starting stack. Did I want to risk my $65 buy-in on the first hand?
I decided to fold. My reasoning was this: I felt the seat 3 player had less than a premium hand or else he might have made a bigger raise. The player in seat 10, however, almost certainly had A-K, A-Q, or a bigger pair than jacks to risk so many chips on a re-raise. He took the pot when everyone mucked.
By folding, I was following my key strategy of playing conservatively to start a one-table tournament, whether online or live. There’s no reason to risk steal raises when the blinds are small or play coin-flip hands early for all of your chips.
In the second and third betting levels, I won a few small pots but basically I was just keeping my chip stack about even, waiting for a chance to double-up. It came in level four with just three of us left and blinds at $50-$100.
The seat 9 player, who had knocked out four opponents and was the chip leader, raised to $300. I looked down at A-A, put on a little acting job like I wasn’t sure what to do, then pushed all-in for $500. The short-stacked player in the middle folded and the chip leader called with A-Q. The aces held up and now I was firmly in second chip position.
The three of us played another 10 minutes or so, trading a few pots until the short-stack player got lucky all-in with 10-3 offsuit against my suited J-9. That evened up our chips enough that a three-way chop made sense. I got $200 as did the chip leader; the short-stack player took $150.
Next time you’re at a big tournament, try reducing your buy-in expenses by playing a satellite or two. You should do OK if you play tight early and catch that one key hand late that propels you into the money.
CANTERBURY FIELDS AHEAD OF 2005
Through the first seven events of this year’s Fall Poker Classic, entries at Canterbury Park are running 425 players ahead of 2005 for the same sequence of tournaments. One of those events — the $200 no-limit hold’em tourney on Oct. 16 — broke the card club record with 728 entries.
Co-directors Jimmy Sommerfeld and Jan Phillips said they are pleased with the turnout and noted that two additional events were put on this year’s schedule to reflect increased interest in tournament poker in the Midwest.
The $1,000 main event on Thursday has a guaranteed $200,000 prize pool, but should easily double that with 400-plus players expected to compete. Last year’s main event drew 363 entries.
E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.
COPYRIGHT 2006 RUSS SCOTT
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